Vegas baby!

Today I'm off to Vegas for the first time in over ten years. I'm sure I won't recognize anything, but it should still be fun.

Other than going out for a friend's semi-bachelor party, I have no idea what we'll do. I don't plan on gambling too much. The only game I'd probably play is poker, which I'd be playing with DrHeimlich. So basically I'll probably just save some time and hand him my money on the plan there.

I'm a tad afraid of the first evening we're there. You see, a couple of the servers that work at our regular beer night hangout will be there. Since they're both young and partiers, I'm seriously worried about getting alcohol poisoning within about 4 hours of landing.

So other than being broke, and hung over it should be fun, and at least I might be able to see the Vegas Hospital...

Subtitles and design elements

The other night I happened to be watching CSI:Miami, why I'm not real sure.

Anyway, they were interviewing a Cuban immigrant who was speaking Spanish. The producers subtitled it in a way that required a comment.

The words were moving around the screen, with some of them growing while others shrank. It was the strangest thing I've seen in a while and seemed to serve no purpose. At first I thought it may be hints to the rest of the investigation, but I don't think so.

I can only assume it was a "design element" and the damned director/producer thought it looked edgy. I can only assume I'll soon get a lame ass comment from a subtitle "expert"...

Bloxy with Moxy

A few weeks ago I picked up a Wii game called Boom Blox. It's a quirky little game that was created by EA and, of all people, Steven Spielberg.

In theory, its a simple puzzle game. These simple puzzles though, quickly become surprisingly challenging (at least to get the gold star on). Because of this hidden challenge, the game is also surprisingly addictive. There are a few different types of puzzles. Levels involve shooting, Jenga-like puzzles, and ball throwing. The shooting levels are a tad boring, and aren't exactly flawless in funtion -especially with multiplayer. The Jenga levels are exactly that - Jenga. While these are a lot of fun, the throwing levels are the most fun. Basically there is a stack of blox that you must knock down with as few throws as possible. Some involve exploding blox, some vanishing blox, and others have "chemical" blox that only explode when in contact with each other. All of which add an interesting twist to an already eccentric game.

While single player is fun, the game doesn't really shine until you're playing it with others. Multiplayer levels offer both co-op and vs modes, and both are a blast. When playing with my friends, the favorite seems to be the castle mode. Each player has a castle that the others are trying to demolish with thrown baseballs. Think Warlords for the Wii.

This isn't to say that multiplayer coop mode isn't just as fun. Here the mode du jour seems to be the Jenga mode. The night we all tried it out, the sound of "ooo's", "aah's" and spirited screaming for the stack to stay upright could be heard around the block.

The game is easy to pick up and start playing and the Wiimote lends itself well to both the throwing balls and pulling blox (just don't try to pull towards yourself). Shooting is another story, single player works well but there seemed to be a lot of lag with multiplayer. It's possible, though that this is due to the setup at my house and not the game.

Bottom line, I can't recommend this game enough. It's good for everyone, from hardcore gamer to grandmas. While Wii Fit get's more of my time right now, Boom Blox is easily my favorite Wii game at the moment.

MVPs wear stripes

Well the Red Wings just won the Stanley Cup, and I have two things to say.

It's good to own the refs. The referees in this series did everything in their power to assist the Red Wings. I certainly hope that the league gives credit where it's due and includes the names of the referees to the cup along with the players'. That's not to say the Wings didn't play well, but I think the Penguins would have had a better time of it without the crappy one sided referee calls.

Secondly, the only reason they won tonight was pure frakking luck. The Wings' third goal was a fluke, and they knew it. Of course it still counted, but there was no skill on that shot. Add to that the lack of luck of the final Penguins' shot (that came within a fraction of an inch to tying the goal), and the Wings were blessed tonight.

Basically,

RED WINGS SUCK

"Truth" in review

"Metal Gear Solid 4" is due to be released soon (June 12 for those keeping track), and Konami has joined other publishers that have "asked" reviewers to omit certain details. Some reviewers have been asked to publish favorable reviews early, while asking negative reviewers to hold off after release date.

Konami has recently joined the ranks of the questionable by asking reviewers to not mention certain details of the game. While some of these things are understandable, certain character appearences and plot lines, some are not. Konami has asked that the mandatory system installation for the PS3 version not be mentioned, something that should be available to anyone who's thinking of buying this game. Also, Konami is requesting no one mention the excessive length of the cutscenes. Reportedly, some of the cutscenes are 90 minutes long!!

While I'm all for having a good storyline, 90 minutes? So you play for an hour or so, then are stuck watching a feature length scene before being able to play again? That's ri-god-damned-diculous. Possibly even more ridiculouos than editing reviewer before they've published they actual review.

Customer Quote of the Month - May

Me greeting a woman that just walked into the shop, "Hey there, what can we do for you?"

TtjWitS, "I'm meeting someone here in a few minutes. She's going to sell me her old gear. You don't mind helping me make sure it's a good deal do you?"

Me, "Umm....does it say 'Flea Market' on the door?"

OK, I didn't really say that, but I wanted to. What the hell? Would you arrange to meet someone at Best Buy to sell them your old TV?

Keeping Terror Alive

Recently news sites around the world have been posting this picture, claiming it is Al-Qaeda propaganda. Dailymail.com posted this site claiming, "This is the apocalyptic scene terrorists hope to create if they ever get their hands on a nuclear bomb... posted on an Islamic extremists' website yesterday,"

According to them, this site has been posted on terrorist websites showing what they view for our future. Yeah, nice journalistic research. This picture is from the upcoming video game, Fallout 3.

I wonder what terror level Destroy All Humans caused...